An anecdote characteristic of Washington is related by Professor McVickar, in his narrative of "The Life of Dr. Bard," who attended Washington during a severe illness in 1789.
It was a case of anthrax (carbuncle) so malignant as for several days to threaten mortification. During this period Dr. Bard never quitted him. On one occasion being left alone with him, General Washington, looking steadily in his face, desired his candid opinion as to the probable termination of his disease, adding with that placid firmness which marked his address, "Do not flatter me with vain hopes, I'm not afraid to die, and therefore can bear the worst." Dr. Bard's answer, though it expressed hope, acknowledged his apprehensions.
The President replied: "Whether to-night or twenty years hence, makes no difference; I know that I am in the hands of a good Providence."
George Washington to his nephew, Bushrod Washington:
Remember, that it is not the mere study of the Law, but to become eminent in the profession of it, which is to yield honor and profit.
The first was your choice, let the second be your ambition; that the company in which you will improve most, will be least expensive to you; and yet I am not such a stoic as to suppose that you will, or think it right that you should always be in company with senators and philosophers; but of the young and the juvenile kind let me advise you to be choice. It is easy to make acquaintances, but very difficult to shake them off, however irksome and unprofitable they are found, after we have once committed ourselves to them.
While absent from Mount Vernon Washington wrote to his manager:
Although it is last mentioned, it is foremost in my thoughts to desire you will be particularly attentive to my negroes in their sickness, and to order every overseer positively to be so likewise; for I am sorry to observe that the generality of them view these poor creatures in scarcely any other light than they do a draught horse or an ox, neglecting them as much when they are unable to work instead of comforting and nursing them when they lie in a sick bed.
A part of each day was always set apart for meditation and devotion; nor this in time of peace only, for we are told that one day while the Americans were encamped at Valley Forge, the owner of the house occupied by the General, a Quaker, strolled up the creek, and when not far from his mill, heard a solemn voice. He walked quietly in the direction of it and saw Washington's horse tied to a sapling. In a thicket near by was the chief, upon his knees in prayer, his cheeks suffused with tears.